🔗 Share this article Nazi Bombs, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: How Ocean Creatures Thrives on Discarded Weapons In the slightly salty sea off the Germany's coast rests a graveyard of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and naval mines. Dumped from vessels at the conclusion of the World War II and left behind, thousands munitions have become matted together over the decades. They form a corroding carpet on the low-depth, silty ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic. Over the decades, the wartime weapons was ignored and forgotten about. A increasing amount of visitors traveled to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Beneath the surface, the munitions eroded. We initially thought to see a lifeless zone, with no life because it was all poisoned, says Andrey Vedenin. When the team went investigating to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, researchers thought they would find a desert, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, says a scientist. What they found astonished them. Vedenin recalls his colleagues exclaiming in amazement when the underwater vehicle first sent the images back. This was a remarkable experience, he notes. Countless of marine animals had established habitats among the weapons, forming a revitalized ecosystem richer than the sea floor around it. This underwater metropolis was proof to the persistence of marine life. Indeed surprising how much life we observe in areas that are expected to be dangerous and risky, he says. Over 40 sea stars had gathered on to one accessible chunk of TNT. They were living on steel casings, ignition chambers and carrying containers just a short distance from its dangerous content. Fish, crabs, sea anemones and bivalves were all found on the historic weapons. You could compare it with a reef ecosystem in terms of the amount of fauna that was there, says Vedenin. Unexpected Creature Concentration An mean of more than 40,000 organisms were residing on every meter squared of the munitions, scientists wrote in their study on the finding. The surrounding area was much poorer in life, with only eight thousand individuals on every meter squared. It is ironic that things that are designed to eliminate all life are attracting so much marine organisms, explains Vedenin. You can see how the natural world adjusts after a catastrophic event such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, life finds its way to the most hazardous locations. Artificial Features as Ocean Habitats Artificial features such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and undersea pipes can provide replacements, replacing some of the removed habitat. This investigation demonstrates that munitions could be equally advantageous – the bloom of life on those in the Bay of Lübeck is likely to be duplicated elsewhere. Between 1946 and the post-war period, 1.6m tons of munitions were dumped off the German coast. Countless of workers loaded them in boats; a portion were placed in designated areas, others just dumped while traveling. This is the initial instance researchers have documented how ocean organisms has responded. Global Examples of Ocean Adaptation In the US, retired oil and gas structures have become marine habitats Submerged vessels from the first world war have become habitats for marine life along the Potomac River in Maryland Tank tracks that have become home to reef-building organisms off Asan in Guam These places become even more valuable for wildlife as the oceans are increasingly stripped by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and explosive disposal locations practically act as sanctuaries – they are not national parks, but nearly any kind of human activity is prohibited, says Vedenin. Therefore a many of marine species that are typically rare or diminishing, such as the cod fish, are thriving. Future Considerations Wherever military conflict has occurred in the recent history, surrounding seas are often containing explosives, says Vedenin. Many millions of tonnes of explosive material lie in our oceans. The positions of these munitions are inadequately mapped, in part because of international boundaries, secret defense data and the reality that records are hidden in old files. They present an detonation and safety hazard, as well as risk from the continuous leakage of poisonous compounds. As the German government and other countries start clearing these artifacts, researchers aim to protect the ecosystems that have developed around them. In the Lübeck Bay munitions are already being extracted. Researchers recommend substitute these iron structures originating from munitions with some more secure, some safe materials, like possibly man-made habitats, suggests Vedenin. He now wishes that what happens in the Bay of Lübeck establishes a precedent for replacing structures after explosive extraction elsewhere – because also the most harmful weaponry can become framework for ocean ecosystems.
In the slightly salty sea off the Germany's coast rests a graveyard of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and naval mines. Dumped from vessels at the conclusion of the World War II and left behind, thousands munitions have become matted together over the decades. They form a corroding carpet on the low-depth, silty ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic. Over the decades, the wartime weapons was ignored and forgotten about. A increasing amount of visitors traveled to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Beneath the surface, the munitions eroded. We initially thought to see a lifeless zone, with no life because it was all poisoned, says Andrey Vedenin. When the team went investigating to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, researchers thought they would find a desert, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, says a scientist. What they found astonished them. Vedenin recalls his colleagues exclaiming in amazement when the underwater vehicle first sent the images back. This was a remarkable experience, he notes. Countless of marine animals had established habitats among the weapons, forming a revitalized ecosystem richer than the sea floor around it. This underwater metropolis was proof to the persistence of marine life. Indeed surprising how much life we observe in areas that are expected to be dangerous and risky, he says. Over 40 sea stars had gathered on to one accessible chunk of TNT. They were living on steel casings, ignition chambers and carrying containers just a short distance from its dangerous content. Fish, crabs, sea anemones and bivalves were all found on the historic weapons. You could compare it with a reef ecosystem in terms of the amount of fauna that was there, says Vedenin. Unexpected Creature Concentration An mean of more than 40,000 organisms were residing on every meter squared of the munitions, scientists wrote in their study on the finding. The surrounding area was much poorer in life, with only eight thousand individuals on every meter squared. It is ironic that things that are designed to eliminate all life are attracting so much marine organisms, explains Vedenin. You can see how the natural world adjusts after a catastrophic event such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, life finds its way to the most hazardous locations. Artificial Features as Ocean Habitats Artificial features such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and undersea pipes can provide replacements, replacing some of the removed habitat. This investigation demonstrates that munitions could be equally advantageous – the bloom of life on those in the Bay of Lübeck is likely to be duplicated elsewhere. Between 1946 and the post-war period, 1.6m tons of munitions were dumped off the German coast. Countless of workers loaded them in boats; a portion were placed in designated areas, others just dumped while traveling. This is the initial instance researchers have documented how ocean organisms has responded. Global Examples of Ocean Adaptation In the US, retired oil and gas structures have become marine habitats Submerged vessels from the first world war have become habitats for marine life along the Potomac River in Maryland Tank tracks that have become home to reef-building organisms off Asan in Guam These places become even more valuable for wildlife as the oceans are increasingly stripped by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and explosive disposal locations practically act as sanctuaries – they are not national parks, but nearly any kind of human activity is prohibited, says Vedenin. Therefore a many of marine species that are typically rare or diminishing, such as the cod fish, are thriving. Future Considerations Wherever military conflict has occurred in the recent history, surrounding seas are often containing explosives, says Vedenin. Many millions of tonnes of explosive material lie in our oceans. The positions of these munitions are inadequately mapped, in part because of international boundaries, secret defense data and the reality that records are hidden in old files. They present an detonation and safety hazard, as well as risk from the continuous leakage of poisonous compounds. As the German government and other countries start clearing these artifacts, researchers aim to protect the ecosystems that have developed around them. In the Lübeck Bay munitions are already being extracted. Researchers recommend substitute these iron structures originating from munitions with some more secure, some safe materials, like possibly man-made habitats, suggests Vedenin. He now wishes that what happens in the Bay of Lübeck establishes a precedent for replacing structures after explosive extraction elsewhere – because also the most harmful weaponry can become framework for ocean ecosystems.